The Living Cookbook
Every recipe has travelled through time before finding its way here.
Explore by collection
Find the family recipes you want to cook
Browse real recipes by tradition, ingredient and the kind of food families return to.
5 recipes
Indian family recipes
Explore real Indian family recipes for butter chicken, bhindi, baingan ka bharta, tandoori aloo nazakat and Pindi chole, each with its family story.
Explore this collection →3 recipes
British family recipes
Discover traditional British family recipes for baked rice pudding, slow-cooked beef casserole and lamb shepherd’s pie, with the memories behind them.
Explore this collection →6 recipes
Vegetarian family recipes
Browse vegetarian family recipes including bhindi masala, smoky baingan ka bharta, tandoori potatoes, Pindi chole, soufflé and baked rice pudding.
Explore this collection →6 recipes
Family comfort food recipes
Find comforting family recipes for Jollof rice, butter chicken, beef casserole, shepherd’s pie, cheese soufflé and baked rice pudding, with their stories.
Explore this collection →2 recipes
Family chicken recipes
Cook two distinctive family chicken recipes: Dave’s creamy Indian butter chicken and Auntie Marcia’s pineapple-infused Jamaican jerk chicken.
Explore this collection →6 recipes
Recipes passed down through generations
Read and cook real family recipes passed between parents, grandparents and children, preserved with the memories and people behind each dish.
Explore this collection →Choose a recipe
Stories from family kitchens
These are the first pages of the OPR cookbook: recipes shared with love, and the memories that make them matter.
The cookbook is growing
These are the first 14 family recipes to find their place in the OPR cookbook. Have a recipe waiting in a drawer, notebook or memory? Help write the next page.
14 recipes to discover
No. 01 · Starter
Gautam & Shobha's Tandoori Aloo Nazakat
From the OPR collection · New Delhi, India
“When Gautam Arora was preparing to open his first restaurant, Martabaan Tales, he turned to his mum, Shobha. She taught him how to make Tandoori Aloo Nazakat: potato barrels filled with spiced paneer, coated in tandoori marinade and roasted until smoky and golden. The recipe became part of the moment a family lesson turned into the first step of his professional story.”
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No. 02 · Starter
Phil & Serb's Three-Cheese Soufflé
From the OPR collection · New Malden, England
“Phil & Serb’s three-cheese soufflé is all about balance: Gruyère for melt, aged Cheddar for a sharp edge and Parmigiano-Reggiano for nutty depth. The béchamel is made patiently, the egg whites folded gently, and the finished soufflé goes straight from oven to table at its highest, lightest moment.”
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No. 03 · Main
Ada's Jollof Rice
From the OPR collection · Lagos, Nigeria
“Ada's Jollof Rice celebrates the unmistakable smoky flavour of Nigerian party Jollof: a deeply reduced pepper base, rich stock and a final moment of heat that creates that treasured, lightly scorched bottom layer. It is the kind of dish made for a full table, shared plates and second helpings.”
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No. 04 · Main
Auntie Marcia's Pineapple-Infused Jamaican Jerk Chicken
From the OPR collection · Birmingham, England
“Auntie Marcia made her Jamaican Jerk Chicken with that sweet and sour sauce that was finger lickin' good.”
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No. 05 · Main
Badepapa's Pindi Cholley
From the OPR collection · Noida, India
“This was Mickey's Badepapa's — his grandfather's — favourite dish, made in the house every Tuesday without fail. Badepapa's secret was a spoonful of chunky chaat masala folded into the garam masala, giving the chickpeas their extra tang.”
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No. 06 · Main
Barbara's Beef Casserole
From the OPR collection · Swansea, Wales
“Barbara learnt this recipe from her mother, Pat, and made it her own by adding a tablespoon of Bovril. She always prepared it the day before because, as she put it, good things are worth waiting for. We still make it from her flour-dusted recipe book, and nobody is allowed to skip the extra gravy.”
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No. 07 · Main
Dave's Butter Chicken
From the OPR collection · New Malden, England
“I learned this from my Indian mother-in-law and tweaked it a little by replacing the tinned tomatoes with passata for a smoother, richer taste. I have cooked it in India for family and received their seal of approval — as well as my mother-in-law declaring that mine is better than hers now!”
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No. 08 · Main course
Grandad's Steak & Ale Pie
John · Bermondsey
“Grandad used to make this regularly from a recipe that I think had been handed down to him. He had a penchant for Guinness, so used it in place of red wine and also added some balsamic vinegar to give the sauce an extra little bite. We think he added the Guinness because it was a good excuse to have it in the house, and he would always finish off a can once it had been opened to make the pies.”
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No. 09 · Main
Krishna Anand's Baingan ka Bharta
From the OPR collection · New Delhi, India
“Once kept in a kitchen drawer, Krishna Anand's baingan ka bharta has been carefully translated so everyone can make it their own. Krishna was the late grandmother of OPR founder Chaten, and this smoky aubergine dish — with softly pink onions, tomatoes and fresh green chillies — carries her family story to every new table.”
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No. 10 · Main course
Pat’s Haddock and Tomato Bake
Amy Wislocki · New Malden
“This was a regular favourite in our house when I was growing up. My mum, Pat, hated cooking, but everything she made was delicious — and made with love.”
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No. 11 · Main
Sam's Shepherd's Pie
From the OPR collection · Guildford, England
“Sam's Shepherd's Pie is built slowly from lamb, vegetables and a quietly brilliant savoury trick: white anchovies and Marmite melt into the gravy, leaving only deep, rounded flavour. Beneath its crisp potato topping is the kind of comforting dish made for a table full of people.”
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No. 12 · Main
Sudesh's Bhindi
From the OPR collection · Maidenhead, England
“A simple bhindi masala built from the everyday flavours of onion, tomatoes, ginger and warming Indian spices. The okra is cooked first, gently and patiently, until its sliminess almost disappears, then folded through the masala. Sudesh loves it with warm roti and dal, though it is just as good with paratha or rice.”
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No. 13 · Dessert
Nana Serb's Sunday Rice Pudding
From the OPR collection · Birmingham, England
“Every Sunday after church, Nana Serb put this pudding in the oven before we sat down for lunch. By the time we reached dessert, the house smelled of vanilla and nutmeg. She never measured a thing — she simply knew. One spoonful still takes us straight back to her kitchen.”
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No. 14 · Something else
Mum's Apple/Pear Chutney
Georgina Hovanessian · Oxford
“I scribbled this recipe down from a falling-apart book of recipes belonging to my mum. She had scribbled it down from her mum. It's quite an imprecise recipe, which suits our style of cooking just fine. It always turns out differently, and it is always delicious. You can be certain that in the kitchen cupboard of every family member there is an open jar of Mum's chutney and at least one in reserve. It is a staple for us. Of course, we all eat it with cheesy snacks, sides and meals, but also with sausage suppers. I've been cooking my own batches since moving to a place with two loaded apple and pear trees in the back garden. We can't possibly eat all the sour apples, and the pears fall off and smash before they are ripe, so chutney-making in autumn is a satisfying activity that keeps on giving for the rest of the year as we crack open jars months later.”
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The OPR recipe map
Every pin begins with a person, a place and a recipe worth passing on. Explore the kitchens that make up the OPR cookbook so far.
Press a pin to open that family's recipe. Put your family on the map →
OPR Recipe of the Month
Which recipe should take the table this September?
Choose the family recipe you would most like to cook. The winning story becomes OPR's Recipe of the Month.
One vote per person each month.
Starter
Gautam & Shobha's Tandoori Aloo Nazakat
New Delhi, India
Starter
Phil & Serb's Three-Cheese Soufflé
New Malden, England
Main
Ada's Jollof Rice
Lagos, Nigeria
Main
Auntie Marcia's Pineapple-Infused Jamaican Jerk Chicken
Birmingham, England
Main
Badepapa's Pindi Cholley
Noida, India
Main
Barbara's Beef Casserole
Swansea, Wales
Main
Dave's Butter Chicken
New Malden, England
Main course
Grandad's Steak & Ale Pie
Bermondsey
Main
Krishna Anand's Baingan ka Bharta
New Delhi, India
Main course
Pat’s Haddock and Tomato Bake
New Malden
Main
Sam's Shepherd's Pie
Guildford, England
Main
Sudesh's Bhindi
Maidenhead, England
Dessert
Nana Serb's Sunday Rice Pudding
Birmingham, England
Something else
Mum's Apple/Pear Chutney
Oxford
Whet Our Appetite